“CLIMATE CHANGE” A Guest Blog Post by Millie

Hi everyone! It’s Millie here (everyone’s favourite nineteen year old), this time to talk about a slightly different topic on the blog — climate change and what we can do to save the planet. As everyone knows, thanks to human practices, industrialisation and globalisation over the last 150 years, the Earth is changing at an unprecedented rate.

We’re cutting down billions of acres of forest, polluting the soil and oceans with detrimental farming practices and trash dumping, and pumping toxic gases into the atmosphere. Suddenly, whole species are disappearing, and humans are suffering from illnesses linked to chemicals and toxins in the air and what we consume. Left: a newly-built rubbish incinerator in our area. Right: deforestation in Indonesia.

The estimates vary, but scientists predict that unless we cut carbon emissions and massively change our lifestyles and living habits in about twelve years, the effects of climate change will be irreversible. A great deal of this responsibility sits on the shoulders of our governments and the massive corporations who exploit us and the Earth for resources, but where there is demand there will be supply, and making changes to how we live can help to contribute to this cause.

I thought I’d write this article not only to elaborate on the issue and make suggestions about changes you can make, but also to show how we in France can contribute and make changes.

The first thing that I’d like to talk about is food! Glorious food!

We love it, we eat it, and we hopefully share it with our friends, but we could also be slowly poisoning ourselves and the planet by continuing to eat how we do. Farming nowadays is mainly done through mass agriculture, machines and chemicals being used to grow what we need. These pesticides are leaching into the planet, and also us. GMO foods are linked to various illnesses, and animals particularly are extremely costly. There are several ways to lessen the effect of this; vegetarianism or veganism already help to greatly reduce our impact on the planet, but eating organically is great too. Here in France, we have a lot of farmer’s markets where we can buy local produce — cutting down on fuel used to transport the food, giving back to the local economy, and often buying food grown with a lot less pesticides. An example of exactly how toxic pesticides can be was relayed to us when we visited a vineyard in the Dordogne a couple of years ago. They were totally organic, but their neighbour wasn’t. One day he was fixing his sprayer tractor and it backfired in his face, spilling the chemicals all over him. Six month later he passed away from multiple types of cancer related to what had happened to him.

It’s also easy to grow your own vegetables, and can be cheap, particularly when done from seed. Even if you don’t have the room for one, you can get an allotment or collaborate with friends or family on a shared vegetable garden. There are various options for natural pesticides, such as using salt or vinegar, or even a small flamethrower. Some animals (particularly ducks) work wonderfully as natural pest control, providing you’re not too attached to the idea of having the perfect garden. We’re currently raising up four Indian Runner ducklings just for this reason! Two of them are enough to keep several acres of land free of snails and slugs. One vineyard in South Africa (coming back to wine!) even keeps a flock of thousands to eat any naughty insects!

One subject that’s slightly less unknown to most people is that fast fashion does the planet. This is when clothes are made at an extremely cheap cost (think H&M, Primark…), sold cheap, and people wear them a few times before they get bored or they get worn out and are trashed. The transport of these clothes is also costly to the environment, and workers often labour in terrible sweatshop conditions to make these clothes.

At the same time, clothing and fashion can be a bit of a “touchy” subject for some people: it’s related to culture, self-expression, your reputation and work needs. Balancing these with almost being more environmentally aware can be difficult. I recently read that up to 85% of the world’s wearable clothing is currently sitting in landfills. One solution is to donate or give away old clothes: it negates the need to create new ones and benefits the less fortunate. There are also a lot of options to buy clothes second-hand: charity shops, garage sales… here in France we have a couple of really cool options. Our first is Emmaüs, a franchise of charity shops that sell donated items of all sorts in order to fund housing for the homeless and fight for the rights of immigrants. Many a time we’ve found all sorts of incredible things there!

I bought this yellow raincoat for three euros at a brocante recently! Surrounded by vibrant nature like this, it’s terrible to imagine it all gone.

There are also the infamous brocantes. While people will sell old furniture and antique items (what you tend to see on the blog!) there are usually always a lot of clothes for sale too. With a little patience you can find really nice clothing for next-to-nothing. Some people might be afraid of this because the clothing could be dirty or worn, but just like new clothes, all you have to do is give them a wash before you wear them. There are even now apps dedicated to the sale and trade of second hand clothes! My New Year’s Resolution this year was to not buy any clothes new except for underwear and socks. So far I’ve found a 70 Euro pair of shoes for two euros, a 50 Euro jacket for three euros, and countless beautiful jumpers and bags. You can find some lovely items, without contributing to fast fashion or landfills. It’s also a lot easier on your wallet! Many brands now have “eco conscious” options nowadays, too.

Moving on, let’s talk about cleaning products, soaps and cosmetics. With things like disinfectant and washing up liquid, there are only so many organic or eco-friendly options. But they do exist! Many products are now made with ingredients that are less toxic to the environment once they’re flushed down the drain, and a lot of these incorporate plant extracts with natural antibacterial and antiseptic properties.

Organic and oftentimes homemade soaps are to be found in huge abundance in France: at many markets there’ll be a stand selling all-natural soaps. Different plants can have different effects, and these can make soaps for different purposes: hand-washing, shower soaps, face washes, and even ones that function as shampoo and conditioner! They’re also a lot less harsh on your body. We recently had Belgian friends to say who make their own soaps. I’ve been using their camomile and honey body soap and lavender face soap for a month now and I really like them, it’s definitely something to look into.

In terms of cosmetics there are many options nowadays, and they’re much healthier for our skin too, as well as cruelty-free. One example could be Lush, the very popular chain of shops notorious for being cruelty-free, using natural ingredients and having a strong ethics code. Bare Minerals is a nice choice, but there are also less expensive ones — the Dutch department store Hema recently released a makeup line called B.A.E., which is 100% vegan and cruelty free. It’s also VERY affordable (take it coming from a broke university student!)

Another thing to consider is transport. Constantly pumping fumes into the environment is obviously terrible, but so is the slow drying up of fossil fuels to power our cars, and the oftentimes toxic disposal conditions of old vehicles. Here in France the (electricity-powered) train system is excellent — most small towns have a train station, and this is a great way to get around and be less taxing on the environment. Carpooling can also be a good option. In France one carpool website is very popular; “BlaBlaCar”, I’ve used it several times to go long distances. You have to be a bit brave though!

Sixteen year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg is leading school walk-outs in protest of climate change.

One of the most polluting machines is of course the plane. Flying several kilometres above the Earth, and at incredibly rapid speeds, is extremely costly energy-wise. When I see how many celebrities use private jets to get around when they could just catch a normal flight, it’s a little crazy. A sixteen year-old climate activist named Greta Thunberg has sworn off planes and convinced her entire family to stop using them as well. For many people it’s very hard to totally eradicate flying from your life, but it’s also possible to use planes left and think about alternative ways of travel. As the popular saying goes: It’s about the journey, not the destination.

To finish up my (rather large) list of ways to change your habits to be more environmentally friendly, I suppose I should point out what I consider the truly obvious ways to help: take shorter showers, try to use less electricity and not leave lights on, always use reasonable containers and bags, RECYCLE or COMPOST, etc., etc. On a side note, some energy companies are now offering new “green” energy contracts (like EDF in France), which supposedly use energy sourced from sustainable resources like wind and hydro power. It’s certainly worth looking into, plus the EDF “green” contract is actually cheaper than the regular one!

To bring this post to a close, I think I should probably reiterate that: the planet needs saving. Unless you’re one of the strange science-deniers, then there’s no hiding the facts: unless we change everything, the planet WILL die. I know that the blog’s reader demographic tends not to be teenagers or very young adults, a lot of you have children or maybe even grandchildren. Unless we change something, they might not make it to old age, or will spend their lives living in a poisoned world, breathing filtered air, with many of the Earth’s cities underwater, food shortages, catastrophic weather… the list of consequences goes on forever.

To my mind, I feel that we have a duty as humans, no matter how uncomfortable it may be or strange to change our habits, to fight for our planet. It is at the very least a survival effort for ourselves, and beyond that it is preserving billions of species, nature as we know it, and protecting many generations to come.

Change can come, but only if we act now. It’s important to remember that “difficult” changes to make, such as forgoing the use of planes and cutting things out of our diets, may not be forever. Science is always looking for and finding new alternatives for what we enjoy today. In the meantime, we have a responsibility.

Thank you so much, if anyone has read this far, for reading what I’ve written today. I know that it’s all over the news at the moment, and most of this probably isn’t new information, however it’s necessary to repeat it until it starts to sink in, I suppose! Hopefully you were interested in my perspective as a very young person growing up in this endangered world, and perhaps you learnt a little more about France or found a change you’d like to implement in your life.

Please consider sharing this article, and I’d love to hear your opinions and know what you have changed about your lifestyle or would change to help stop the climate crisis.

Thanks again!

Millie x

I really hope you enjoyed Millie’s post, certainly plenty of food for thought. Naturally I am very proud of her, she has a wise head on such a young pair of shoulders. There are so many ways we can do our bit, including in our own homes. We can recycle, upcycle even ‘relooking’ (as the French love to say) old pieces of furniture. We can buy second hand and we can fill our homes with antique and vintage treasures that were made by hand and come with a wealth of history, as opposed to buying mass produced items made in a giant factory. As you probably all know I am passionate about trying to live a greener lifestyle. To help a little this week I am offering 50% off virtually everything in the Etsy shop, before I restock with a vast amount of new ‘old’ purchases. Remember we combine shipping and this week you really can grab yourself a bargain and feel good at the same time.

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50 thoughts on ““CLIMATE CHANGE” A Guest Blog Post by Millie”

Great article and yes, it’s all been said many times, but we really do have to hammer the message home in the hope that it will sink in. This precious world is only on loan to us and we have to take care of it.

Well said, Millie! I shall be forwarding your thoughtful article to my PYP Exhibition Mentor Group who are currently preparing a presentation on just these topics as part of the culmination of their Primary Years Programme over here in Nice. Keep fighting for our planet…there is no Earth #2.

Well said Millie. I have not heard a young person say things about our planet in such an eloquent manner as you have done here. Bravo! I live on the west coast of Canada and I see what is happening to the Pacific Ocean and those species that live there. Truly sad. I do recycle, compost and give away clothes and items in my closets and pantry that I no longer use to worthy causes. I will only buy local dairy and produce and only those that are animal cruelty free. I always carry a cloth bag, so that I am not collecting plastic. I have my own travel coffee mug.
We certainly can all do our part even though it may not seem like much.
I thank you for providing this post. Well done. Merci beaucoup❣️

Hi Liane, thank you so much for reading! The west coast of Canada looks beautiful so it’s terrible to imagine it being affected by climate change. Here in France they don’t even give away plastic bags, it’s bring your own canvas one of carry things in your hands! A good system I think to avoid having millions of plastic ones floating around and polluting everywhere. I just wish that more people were like you and did their part. Thank you again ❤️

Excellent article! I love going to the market for fresh vegetables. Growing vegetables in the garden can be a challenge at times but very rewarding. Nothing tastes better than a warm tomato off the vine.
Your article also made me think of some stained clothes I was going to garbage. I have now decided to cut them into strips and try my hand at making a rug!
Each little change we make will make great differences, if we all try!

Great article Millie. I agree with 100% with what you say. However, flying to France is the only feasible way for us to visit our favourite country. I do worry that future generations will not be so fortunate.
Water preservation is also a very important issue. Low flush toilets and as you said don’t just let the water run when your not using it. There are so many little ways each of us can change our daily habits. Fast fashion, I think is the worst. I read that some of the clothes is landfills are shredded and used for insulation in buildings.
Great to hear from you…
Ali xx

Hi Ali! Thanks for reading! I agree with that, air travel has made the world so much more accessible to people and has linked many cultures. My hope is that science will soon find a much cleaner alternative. I believe that if we were to cut down on non-necessary flights (such as celebrities in their many private jets) or airlines were to simply not offer the flights that have few passengers, we could probably cut air traffic in half and already do good like that. Water conservation is so important!!! As someone else here commented, in parts of South Africa at the moment water levels are so low that people have imposed water usage limits. It’s easy to forget when nice warm water is flowing out the tap… but in ten years we may regret wasting so much water! Fast fashion is AWFUL, and yet nobody says anything about it because many people are very attached to it and it’s made some people very rich… thank you again for reading and commenting! ❤️ Millie

Great read. Since I retired I have only bought clothes at a recycled shop that I volunteer at. All profits going to abandoned animals. It just takes a little extra time and care to be very well dressed. Recycle recycle recycle.

Hi Sandra, thanks for reading! Buying “recycled” clothes is great, I’m so glad that I made the choice. It definitely takes a little more hard work and patience to find what you’re looking for, but it also means that you only have a wardrobe full of things that you REALLY love. A good thing! Thanks for commenting xx

I like it that you recognize us “oldsters” as being more naturally self aware. As I put my wash on the line today, I thought in the good old days we always used solar and wind power to dry our clothes. Thanks for the good read.

Hi Avril, I think that’s so sad that people don’t take it into account. I think politicians realise that to truly fight climate change we have to made changes that would transform the economy and society (probably losing those politicians money and/or negating them), so they selfishly don’t mention it because they care more about their own career! Insane

Hi Sandy! Not sure that I’d call you “oldsters”, just older than us and certainly with more life experience and acquired wisdom! We almost always use our lines to dry clothes except when it’s raining, people who tumble dry everything even when they have the space for a line are crazy, such a waste of electricity!

Thank you for your well written and well reasoned article, Millie. I am completely on board with your many suggestions and have embraced a greener lifestyle, too. I agree there are many different things that an individual can do to contribute to a reduction in the terrible effects that lifestyle and industry are inflicting on the world’s environment.

Hi Anne, thank you so much for reading and I’m glad that you enjoyed it! There is so much that we can do, and they’re not even massive changes! It’s worrying that people can’t even be bothered to implement little adjustments in order to insure the future of millions of species and of the planet… if we act now we can change things, but nobody seems to want to act now 😔

So true, Millie, regarding trying to minimise GMOs, pesticides, plastics, geo-engineering and rampant pollution – trying to avoid them is a bit like negotiating a mine field!
One area that I find decidedly odd though is a demonisation of carbon – essential for all plant life from a blade of grass to the tallest tree. Less carbon = less plant life. Remember photosynthesis… (6CO2 + 6H2O ~light energy~ C6H12O6 + 6O2) in other words (Carbon Dioxide + Water ~sunlight~ Glucose + Oxygen)

Hi Celia, thank you for reading! I agree with it being like a minefield, I think the best we can do is do our best, and in the meantime try and get the big corporations and industries to change their practices to make everything safer for the environment and us. The “demonisation” of carbon dioxide is perhaps not so odd when one studies the science behind it, although it certainly seems confusing when on the one hand we’re taught that CO2 is essential to life on Earth and on the other we’re told that too much CO2 will END life on Earth! The natural carbon cycle has been going for billions of years, essential to all life on Earth, etc. Until we humans started pumping a lot more of it into the atmosphere (roughly 150 years ago), the amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere varied only slightly. When they did, it was either very slowly (giving nature time to adapt and evolve) or at catastrophic levels (like now), causing mass extinctions and eradicating a lot of the life forms of the time. The problem lies in the fact that human activities are pumping a great deal more CO2 into the atmosphere than is normal. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, meaning that it traps heat, and there is now so much of it in the atmosphere — thanks to us — that it is trapping a LOT of heat and rapidly warming the Earth, at a rate much too fast for nature to evolve to. This means that unless we massively cut our CO2 emissions, this global warming will continue, causing ice caps to melt, the oceans to rise, and inciting chain reactions that will end in destruction of nature as we know it: the next great extinction of the Earth. Life would continue in some form or another, but we would be gone and so would most of today’s species. Nature would take millions of years to evolve, too, and it would be a harsh few million years for the planet! As you can see it makes sense once you study it but it’s confusing at first. Thanks again for commenting! X Millie

I wholeheartedly agree. I am sick and tired of going into Walmart, Target, etc., and finding that everything is made in China or in the Asiatic area for what are probably near slave wages. Can’t we make anything ourselves anymore!!!

Hi, thanks for reading! I agree with this, not only are people left with no options OTHER than to work in those conditions and earn that money, but also transporting products across the world is very costly. The difficulty lies in the fact that to make products domestically would mean the companies would have to pay a much higher wage, so they’d lose money and also put people across the world out of a job — we have backed ourselves into a corner which is terrible but getting out of the corner would mean making some people very unhappy and also totally changing society and the economy — probably the only way to save the planet. Finding solutions that balance everything is very hard, unfortunately

Recently, my ophthalmologist told me that a pound of spinach in 1950 had 40% more nutrients than a pound of spinach today. The large farms are not replenishing the land as much as is being taken out. It is much better to buy locally from small producers, as is in France.

That is crazy! Thanks for sharing! Land used to agriculture is meant to be able to “rest” every few years or at least be used to grow different crops, the problem is that we’ve now made mass agriculture our only option to feed everybody (and even then many people are not getting fed!) finding a solution will be difficult!

Hello, Millie!
I love hearing your passion about these very important issues! Recycle, recycle, recycle. I’ve been doing that since I was younger than you and before it was expected. I think my generation made some progress, but clearly one of the good things accomplished was influencing and teaching your generation to care about saving the planet. Well said!
Here in south Florida, we are working on water quality — a daunting task. Keep up the good work! Xoxo, Nancy

Hi Nancy!!! Good to hear from you! Recycling is so important, but a lot of what we recycle isn’t even recycled because there aren’t the facilities for it, it just sits waiting to be recycled — essentially temporary trash I suppose. I wish governments would stop investing in trash incinerators (for example, because that’s what has recently happened here) and instead work on recycling. Between recycling and composting, we could minimise trash that just sits polluting things by so much! But people don’t realise it or can’t be bothered to do it (cough cough governments!). I remember the water being terrible when we were in Florida and still read about it so often. We’re literally poisoning the planet 😔

Hello Milllie and kudos to you for broaching this vital but difficult topic with the clarity, knowledge and eloquence that you have. I will be one to pass on your message and that of so many in your age group to the ones only interested in the profit margin, knowing that they will have passed onto eternity by the time our beautiful planer is finally doomed. Last week saw a huge children’s rally in Sydney, with many kids ten or under skipping classes with permission from the teaching staffs to look into cameras and ask ‘Don’t we count?’ All of us cannot follow all the logical pathways . . . but all of us can make a difference in some way every day . . . Thank you!

Hi Eha, thank you so much for reading and commenting! I do find it quite sad that the people who control the massive corporations and most politicians are all of the older generations, they are responsible for what is happening and yet the younger generations and the ones yet to come will be the ones to suffer… they simply do not care. The childrens’ climate change rallies have been happening all over the world for a few months now, it seems that people are finally starting to take notice of what’s happening, hopefully we can change things before it’s too late. Thanks again for commenting xxx

Bravo, Millie! Thanks for this great article to make us all think a little harder on what more we can do to preserve what is good, and not contribute to what isn’t, for the Earth. I’ll bet that France is doing a much better job at reducing the use of plastic than the US. Yes, we reuse our shopping bags, but I am going to pledge to use less plastic for other uses, like these darned Ziploc bags and other plastic bags for foods, etc.
Just now watched the national news and the article on “fast fashion” –a nickname new to me. Buy natural fibers! I can’t believe how long it takes a polyester garment to biodegrade-if it ever does! Millie–how did you know that this issue would be a major news feature tonight?
Would love to hear more about what people in France and the UK are doing to go green. Thanks again!

Hi Judy, thanks for reading! There are so many little changes that we can make to change things, and yet it will already make such a big difference! The plastic shopping bags in the US are crazy, I remember when we were there the person packing them would always put about two items per bag and then you’d end up with ten half-empty shopping bags! In France they don’t even give out bags, you have to bring your own or pay about a euro for a recycled canvas one. And nobody bags your items for you so the bag actually gets to full capacity! If we were to reuse everything that is ABLE to be reused, we’d save a lot of plastic. Fast fashion is terrible — not enough is said about it. Glad you enjoyed my post x

Thanks Milli,
This is a great piece and covers so much important information about how we can adapt to prevent further climate change. Everything we can do, I believe, is better for us as well, leading to more interesting and creative way of living. Your article explains this well!
Cheers,
Justine, Melbourne

Thanks Justine! There is so much that we can change to make things better, and yes it does make things more interesting and creative and healthy! Being more selective also means being more minimalist which is always a good thing 😊 thanks for commenting x

Terrific Millie, your generation needs to push this along and get into politics to get changes made that are crucial to our survival. We are in drought but still here in Sydney, Australia there are no water restrictions, makes us weep. We save our shower water for the garden we also have compost bins. We pick up plastic rubbish with our grandchildren but still so much to do. Keep it up.

Hi Virginia, thanks for commenting! After I’m done with uni in two years I’d quite like to get into climate/environmental activism, we really need to get people to take notice of what’s happening! I think there’s drought in a lot of places now, it’s been unnaturally hot here in February and March. The problem with politics nowadays is that a lot of it is corrupt and most of the politicians are older and interested only in their own personal gain. My generation has a lot of work to do to get things back on track and help the planet! Glad you enjoyed my article x

I think the basic problem is that sustainability can only be achieved by reducing the standard of living for everyone. Using less energy, using less raw materials, avoiding mass-produced products, not wanting to have everything immediately – that restricts everything. The degree of these restrictions directly determines how the environmental situation will change. As long as the desirable goal of people above all is material prosperity, sustainability and environmental protection are unlikely to work. The hope remains that many will be willing to substantially sacrifice comfort.

Hi, thank you for reading and commenting! What you say is really interesting, I totally agree with it. I often think that the only way to save the planet would be to scale back the economy and society and live far less materialistic lives, taking back our living habits to how things were a couple of hundred years ago in terms of minimalism. That would probably be the only way to reduce everything. Getting everyone to scale back would be, as you point out, near impossible. I think it probably depends on what everyone’s scale of comfort IS — does having less luxury products and less instantaneous services mean less comfort? The science of today would still be available — hospitals, medicine, safer food etc, just only available when needed. I suppose we have to keep fighting and trying to convince people! The shift of many people towards minimalism makes me think that perhaps it could be achieved, but not on the scale needed. Time will tell! Thanks again for reading 😊

Brilliant Mills!! Thank you for this most important message!! It’s a “can’t put the book down” read!!
Very inspiring with many thought provoking details………..the farmer whom was sprayed by his own poison…………
Keep up the good works!!!!

LOVELY POST!
IT was filled with great information!THANK YOU for writing it!
Now, tell YOUR MOTHER she has been written up on THEVINTAGECONTESSA.NET and needs to RESPOND!I know she has been traveling……..and her POST can come later BUT SHE WON AN AWARD AND MUST SEE IT!
THANK YOU for iNVESTIGATING this horrible matter which OUR STUPID PRESIDENT IGNORES!HE IS AN EMBARRASSMENT.
BRAVA!
XX

So nice to hear the passion in young people. We know as a society what needs to be done, but fighting big corporations and their wealthy owners is a daunting task! Keep writing, you have a gift and it will take you far in your quest. Thank you for adding your voice, together we can and will make a difference. Marie in south fl. USA.

Hi Millie. I’ve just managed to catch up with all the posts since February- all in one go!! Your post is excellent and of course very topical. I belong to our village WI & we are trying to raise awareness of the use of microplastic fibres in clothing, which seep into the rivers & oceans & ultimately into fish & us! Each member of ours & other WIs in the UK are sending a postcard with the national retailer we’d like to ask to rethink their clothing. These 1000s of cards will be taken to a meeting with all the national retailers to try & get across how many people want change.
The National WI magazine is now sent out in a compostable ‘plastic’ bag made from potatoe starch & I’ve noticed other magazines doing the same.
At the supermarket I’ve started weighing the fruit & veg individually where possible & sticking the label straight on the veg rather than use a plastic bag.
Our village has just started an informal garden group & we have set up a plastic pot recycling area in the allotments. We are also recycling gardening books, sharing seeds & plants & having meetings in villagers gardens that are not perfect, but in progress, so that we can learn from each other & encourage more peopke to grow veg. We also are a hub for information – including a list of villagers who have large fardens they can no longer manage & would like to share a part with someone who only has a small space but wishes to grow veg – they look after the garden & provide the owner with a share of the produce. It works brilliantly!
Well i must stop now, I could rattle on for ages!!! Sorry!! But well done on highlighting the problems we face – can never be said too often! Have a lovely weekend. X